title: Designing a diabetes mobile application with social network support.
abstract: Although mobile applications and social media have emerged as important facets of the Internet, their role in healthcare is still not well-understood. We present design artefacts, inspired by persuasive technology concepts, from a study of social media as part of a diabetes mHealth application. We used the design science approach for mobile application design, and real-life user testing and focus group meetings to test the application over a 12-week period with 7 participants. Based on the System Usability Score (SUS), the mobile application scored an average of 84.6 (SD=13.2), which represents a fairly high usability score compared to the literature. Regression analysis on the daily blood glucose levels showed significant decreases for some patients, and although the study is not powered, the HbA1c showed a promising trend, and self-efficacy marginally increased. Incorporating persuasive elements such as blood glucose tracking and visualisation, and social media access directly from the mobile application produced promising results that warrant a larger study of behaviour change for people with diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Integrated Care and Telemedicine, University Hospital of North Norway, Norway.
authors.forename: Taridzo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chomutare
authors.forename: Naoe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tatara
authors.forename: Eirik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Årsand
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hartvigsen
mesh_terms: D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D012648:Self Care; D061108:Social Media
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose